I have always been aware of the isolating, painful and confusing feelings mental illness brings for those diagnosed with it. The journey through pain and suffering, where none around you seem to understand is what bloomed a deep empathy within me. I wanted to create a safe space where those struggling, those feeling misunderstood, those feeling stigmatized and those feeling lonely could feel as though someone heard them, understood them, accepted them and is willing to walk through this journey with them. Pursuing Clinical Psychology afforded me the opportunity to do precisely that. 

I completed my Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Arts (Honours) and Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology degrees at the University of Witwatersrand.

After completion of my Masters degree, I went on to complete my internship year at Tara H. Moross Psychiatric Hospital in Hurlingham. During my first six months, I worked in the psychotherapy unit where I diagnosed, treated and facilitated groups among adult patients experiencing varying personality pathology. I also worked in the adolescent unit treating young adolescents with the use of individual psychotherapy and Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT) groups.

Subsequently for the next six months, I worked extensively in the biochemical wards. I was a member of the multidisciplinary team, diagnosing and treating acute psychotic males as well as acute psychotic females. The work in these wards required both group and individual psychotherapy interventions. Whilst seeing inpatients at Tara, I also worked in the Outpatient Department. Here I treated a range of pathology from mood disorders to personality disorders. Further, I treated couples and was a co-therapist for family therapy, run through the Tara Family Clinic.

After completion of my internship, I went on to complete my community service at Sizwe Tropical Disease Hospital in Edenvale. Sizwe TD is a specialist hospital diagnosing and treating patients presenting with drug resistant Tuberculosis (TB) and HIV. Here I provided patients with a longer term psychotherapy intervention, as the duration of stay for most patients were longer than nine months. During my time here, I treated infants, toddlers as well as adults. The scope included a vast amount of bereavement, health psychology and psychoeducation. I experienced firsthand the disheartening socioeconomic issues many of my patients faced within the community as well as the realised stigma around mental health and TB. I often worked with pregnant women as well as first time mothers, helping them bond with their baby in utero and postnatally. I was also able to provide psychoeducation and psychotherapy around HIV and TB as infants were often sick due to vertical transmission from mother during pregnancy This work highlighted my keen interest in parent-infant psychotherapy as well as infant development, postpartum depression and attachment between caregiver and infant. 

After qualifying as an independent Clinical Psychologist, I furthered my training in parent-infant psychotherapy. I completed the parent-infant psychotherapy training through Ububele and I am currently a member of the South African Association for Infant Mental Health (ZA-AIMH). I am dedicated to the continuation of my training, supervision and research in the field of parent-infant psychotherapy and infant mental health.